The Crime of Murder

[katukov]

The Crime of Murder

Following the invasion of Iraq by U.S. and U.K. armed forces, the Coalition Provisional Authority occupied Iraq in the absence of an Iraqi government. The CPA operated under a UN mandate, as set forth in UNSCR1483 and 1511, which called upon the United States and the United Kingdom “to promote the welfare of the Iraqi people through the effective administration of the territory, including in particular working towards the restoration of conditions of security and stability and the creation of conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future.” And to provide “a multinational force under unified command to take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq.”

On June 8, 2004, the Security Council unanimously adopted UNSCR 1546. This resolution affirmed that the CPA would dissolve by June 30, and declared, “Iraq will reassert its full sovereignty.” CPA dissolved two days early and Iraq’s sovereignty was restored. The Security Council renewed the Multi-National Force’s mandate on November 8, 2005, in UNSCR 1637; again, on November 28, 2006, in UNSCR 1723; and again, on December 18, 2007, in UNSCR 1790. The multinational force was to help the Iraqi government in fighting terrorism, militias, and lawless elements. Therefore the primary function of the multinational force was to exert police power on behalf of, and at the request, of, the Iraqi government.

As a primarily policing force, the MNF’s forces, of which the vast majority are U.S. forces, are obliged to abide by relevant sections of the UN Charter, including those governing use of proportional force against potential threats to the peace, and the protection of civilian populations.

However, these principles have not been followed.

It is a fact that the use of heavy weapons, artillery, and in particular air power, however precise and high-tech, invariably results in excessive civilian casualties. It is also a fact that as the U.S. forces, hoping to reduce U.S. casualties, have very often used disproportionate force against targets in cases where many civilian casualties would reasonably be expected.

Further, it is documented that the U.S. forces have broadly used permissive rules of engagement that have resulted in thousands of excessive deaths of innocent Iraqis. Or worse, have ignored rules of engagement altogether.

From an article in Vanity Fair magazine:

Excessive force was employed not merely because the weapons were available but also because high technology had led Americans to expect low-casualty wars. Especially in the context of a conflict that had never been adequately explained, the U.S. military for political reasons could not afford any implication that it was squandering its soldiers' lives in Iraq…

For the Marines the rules of engagement were necessarily loose. Rules of engagement are standing orders that limit the targets of soldiers, defining the difference between appropriate and inappropriate killing according to strategic and tactical goals, and between legal and illegal killing according to interpretations of international law. In Fallujah the rules allowed Marines to kill anyone they believed to be dangerous, and others who got in the way. In addition to those seen carrying weapons, in practice this meant everyone in every structure from which hostile fire came, and any military-age male seen moving toward the Marines or running away. Obviously, the Marines were not allowed to kill wounded prisoners, but in a televised case one of them did, and Marine Corps justice averted its gaze.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/11/haditha200611?printable=true¤tPage=all

The Iraqi population, at least the peaceful and law-abiding portion of it, which is still the majority, has a special status under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The noncombatant civilians are defined as Protected Persons. The occupying army has the duties and limitations under the Conventions. Specifically, the occupying army is prohibited from:
• Taking any measure of such a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies also to any measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.
• No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
• Pillage is prohibited.
• Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
• The taking of hostages is prohibited.
• Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

The U.S. forces have liberally violated all these provisions in Iraq. These facts are amply documented.

Furthermore, the violations were not the result of just local low-level command decisions, but of the very deliberate policy choices of those at the very top: Bush and Cheney. These choices include:
1. The decision to hide the true motives of the war from the American people and to go to war under false pretences, making public support for the war effort very fragile.
2. The decision to hide and suppress the reporting of Iraqi civilian casualties.
3. The decision to occupy with a much smaller force than needed for effective policing and control of violence.
4. The decision to substitute heavy firepower and airpower for sufficient numbers of “boots on the ground”.
5. The excessive use of “Contractors,” actually mercenaries, who are not accountable to any law or military command structure, and in many cases are recruited from violent elements of other nations’ armed forces or mercenary units, and who are not subject to any systematic training in the use of appropriate force.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

1. We have met the murderers and they are us.

Every tax paying American with almost no exception!
Compounding their crime, the vast majority prefer
the comfort of their tunnel of denial thus are deserving
of their fate.